Own a piece of art from Art Karat

Topaz, pearls, emeralds, rubies, sapphire, corals and other precious and semi-precious stones glistened at the Council Hall of The Residency.

The exhibition opened with a model showcasing a beautiful kundan set, complete with earrings, necklace and bracelet. Made of gold-plated silver and studded with pearls, this ensemble is best suited for dressy occasions and is priced at Rs 1.45 lakh.

Some of the necklaces are inspired by traditional kundan designs such as the Pankha (Rajasthan) and the Champakalli (western Uttar Pradesh).

Large pendants rule this collection. As for the chains, they come in all sizes. There are tiny beaded chains of smoky topaz and amethyst ending with pendants in melanite as well thin gold-plated chains with ruby and emerald pendants. Suiting contemporary tastes are Saket Modi's designs in coral and mother of pearl. Teaming traditional kundan designs of leaves and flowers with mother-of-pearl beads, these chunky necklaces are different.

Earrings are aplenty too. An elegant seven-inch dangler with nine strings in jade and khambhati (Indian ruby from Rajasthan) is priced at Rs 18,000. Chunky bracelets decorated with precious stones, delicate tikas with ruby and emerald drops are also available.

Designers Asha and Saket Modi’s collections have featured in movies such as ‘Devdas’, ‘Monsoon Wedding’ and ‘Zubeidaa’. Craftsmen from Kolkata, Bikaner, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad work on these collections.

It was founded in 2004 by Kamal Modi and his wife Asha Kamal Modi takes full charge of the shop and designs the ornaments.

Endorsed by actor Juhi Chawla, the collection is available at the Art Karat showroom.

“Coimbatore has always been a great market for us. Every year, our sales here record a 20 per cent increase. We are looking at setting up a permanent outlet here,” says Sushil Kumar, production manager, Art Karat.

It is not surprising that sales per day is from Rs 50,000-Rs 1 lakh as there are customers like Banupriya of Pallavaram who said she was completely enamoured of the stone jewels and was temped to buy all the jewels on display.

The latest antique collections have been unveiled under the tile ‘Maharaja Collection’ and will be available at the Art Karat showroom.